What Are Friends For
by MERowe
Summary: What would have happened if someone else had saved Clark on homecoming night. (a Chlark revisionist history)


Disclaimer: I am a poor college student. I don't own ANYTHING, so I especially do not the characters from Smallville, which I am borrowing for this story. Summary: What would happen if someone else had come to rescue Clark from the fate of the scarecrow?  
  
What Friends Are For  
  
Clark Kent looked out into the vast darkness that surrounded him. He had never felt cold before-nor had he felt pain before-but at that moment he was feeling both. Part of him wished that it would just end-he wanted die quickly and get it over with. The other part held out hope that someone would still come to rescue him from a fate of suffocation once his strength gave out entirely and he could no longer support his weight on the scarecrow post.  
Clark looked up as he heard a rustling through the corn. Clark felt a wave of relief wash over him as he realized that someone was coming toward him though the sea of corn. "It never changes," the boy said as he finally came to stand in front of Clark.  
"Help me," Clark gasped, barely able to keep his breath.  
"Hurts, doesn't it?" the boy asked, making no indication of a desire to remove Clark from his bonds.  
"You, you're Jeremy." Clark rasped.  
"I thought that if I punished them, it would stop," the boy said, ignoring Clark's breathless pleas. "But it never stops."  
Jeremy begins to walk away from the post in the opposite direction than from which he came. "Wait, where are you going?" Clark wheezed.  
"Homecoming dance," Jeremy replied with a shrug. "I never made it to mine."  
"Get me down, please," Clark breathed, still holding out a sliver of hope that the boy would take mercy on him.  
"You're safer here," Jeremy retorted. He turned and walked away, taking with him part of Clark's hope for making it though the night alive.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Lex Luthor revved the engine of one of his many foreign sports cars, pulling away from Luthor Fertilizer Plant No. 3. As he begins his cruise down the road, a figure jumped a fence and landed in the road in front of him. Lex slammed the brakes to the floor, car screeching to an abrupt halt. He jumps out immediately, having a vague feeling of reminiscence that this was the same boy he had met years before in the same cornfield on that fateful day. He looks around him, but the boy is gone. Lex looks out to the field, shuddering at the memories he has there. He gets back in his car and drives away.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Pete Ross stepped out of the shower, still riding on the good vibes from a winning football game. True-he had nothing to do with the win. Pete was a lowly freshman and when he was honest with himself-not very athletic at all. He wasn't really a nerd either-he left that for his best friend Clark. He really didn't know what he could be classified as in Smallville High School. "The only black kid in the school, that's what," Pete muttered to himself, walking to the other side of the lockers to get dressed.  
"Man, we really got that Kent kid good," he heard one of the other players say from the other side of the lockers. "He totally deserved to be this year's scarecrow."  
"Serves him right for messing with my Lana," another boy said. Pete recognized this group as Whitney Fordman, the team's star quarterback, and a bunch of his flunkies.  
"Think we should go back and get him down in the morning?" one of the others asked.  
"Nah," replied Whitney. "Let him figure out his own way to get down."  
The goons exited the locker room, unbeknownst to the fact that Pete had been listening to their conversation. Pete scrambled to get the rest of his clothes on and ran up the stairs to the field-more specifically to the payphone by the field. He dialed Chloe's phone number.  
After two rings, she picked up. "'Yello," She said. "Sullivan residence, the one and only Chloe speaking."  
"Chloe!" Pete practically shouted. "Clark's the scarecrow. We have to go out to that field and get him. I heard the football players talking and they aren't planning to go out and get him at all. He could die!"  
  
"Pete, calm down. Are you still at the school?" she asked.  
"Yeah," he affirmed.  
"I'll pick you up in five and we'll go get him," she assured him. She hung up the phone and looked down at herself. She had already gotten into her formal dress for the dance, but there would be no time to change. She slipped off her dress shoes, sliding on a pair of socks and her combat boots instead. "Oh well," she said to herself.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Chloe and Pete hopped out of her car and headed into Reilly Field armed with flashlights. "Clark!" Chloe called out. "Clark, can you hear me!?"  
The two ran through the rows of corn toward the center of the field, where they suspected Clark would be hanging. A faint "help me," was heard by both teens and they ran toward the source, finally discovering Clark hanging on a wooden post. Chloe gasped at the sight of him-covered in sweat and shivering, a red 'S' mockingly painted on his chest. His breathing was most obviously labored and he looked to be in a lot of pain.  
"Clark!" she yelped, running over to him with Pete and beginning to untie his bonds. "Oh, my God, are you alright?"  
"It's so cold," he replied almost as if he didn't hear her. "I've never been happier to see you two in my entire life."  
"It's going to be okay, Clark. We're here now. Pete, get on the ground," Chloe said.  
"'Scuse me?" Pete inquired. "What did you just say?"  
  
"Neither of us is tall enough to untie his arms. You have to get on the ground so I can get on your back and get them," she replied.  
"Why do I have to do it?" he whined.  
"Because you're the guy and because I said so," she replied. "Now get on the ground."  
  
Pete knelt down on all fours, grumbling about "equal opportunities" as he went. Chloe stepped onto him as though he was a step-stool, eliciting a grunt from her best friend. She reached up to untie the ropes from his arms, instantly sending Clark hurtling to the ground with a resounding thud. "Oh, Clark!" she exclaimed as she jumped off Pete's back, kicking him in the head slightly in the process.  
Pete got up and dusted himself off, muttering about getting "no respect at all" and walked over to check on Clark. "You gonna be alright?" he asked his friend, who was already to his knees in the dirt and looking much better. Chloe was rubbing his arm and muttering the same sorts of questions at him.  
"Yeah," Clark said, catching his breath for the first time since he had been hung up there. "I'll be okay." He paused. "We have to get to the school-Jeremy is going to kill everyone at the dance!"  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Clark jumps out of the car almost before it stops moving in the school parking lot. He spots Jeremy creek opening the box containing the controls for the fire sprinkler system. Clark runs toward him, shouting, "Jeremy, you need to stop this."  
Jeremy turns around, surprised to see Clark. "I don't know how you got here, but you should have stayed away," Jeremy said, fiddling again with the controls for the sprinkler system.  
"I won't let you hurt those people," Clark warned, pulling Jeremy away from the box.  
"Those people in there aren't your friends," Jeremy said, turning back to the box. "The sprinklers will get them nice and wet. I'll handle the rest."  
"They never did anything to you," Clark said, pulling Jeremy once again away from the box. "What happened to you was my fault. I can understand your pain."  
"I'm not in pain," Jeremy stated. "I have a gift, and a purpose, and a destiny."  
Jeremy began to walk away from Clark; but faster than the eye could see, Clark ran around to the other side of Jeremy and blocked his path. "So do I," he said.  
Chloe and Pete, who had finally caught up with Clark, watched the scene unfold in mute horror. Jeremy reached out one hand, clutching Clark's shoulder and sending visible waves of electricity between the two of them. Clark, unfazed by this attack, threw Jeremy away from himself and into a parked truck. "Give it up, Jeremy," Clark said.  
Jeremy put his hand on the hood of the truck, causing it to start. He entered the cab and drives the truck directly at Clark. "Clark, no!" Chloe cried out as the car connected with its target and drove around the corner. Seconds later, a crash could be heard. Chloe and Pete ran around the corner to see visible electric waves rolling off the car, which is now full of water from the pipes burst by the collision.  
"Clark, are you okay?" Chloe called.  
"Chloe, Pete, stay back. I don't want you to get hurt. I'm fine. Don't worry."  
Finally the waves of electricity subsided, leaving a powerless and confused Jeremy Creek saying, "Where am I? Who are you?"  
"I'm Clark Kent, and you're in Smallville," Clark told the boy. "Why don't you head on home?"  
Jeremy walked off and Clark freed himself from the wreckage of the truck. He walked away from the damaged vehicle, obviously unhurt, toward Chloe and Pete. "Um, guys, about what just happened." he started.  
"Save it, Clark!" Chloe interrupted. "I have to go beat up the quarterback and homecoming King."  
With that, she walked to the building, leaving Pete and Clark stunned in her wake. When the full intent of what she had just said hit them, they both ran after her, but she had already entered the building.  
Clark and Pete made it to the gym just in time to see Chloe send Whitney spiraling to the floor with one solid punch. "That was for stringing my best friend up in a field," she said, pausing before accentuating her point with a swift kick to Whitney's groin with her combat boot clad foot.  
"Back off, bitch," Lana said, pulling Chloe away from her boyfriend. "That nerd, Clark, got just what he deserved."  
Fury swam behind Chloe's eyes as she lunged toward the cheerleader and tackled her to the gym floor, sending multiple punches to her face. "You take that back, you insensitive floozy!" she wailed.  
Clark looked on in horror as his best friend proceeded to bombard his neighbor and the object of his longtime affection with a series of jabs and uppercuts. He ran over to the scene of the disturbance, pulling the feisty blonde away from the cowering brunette. "I think it's time we left," he said as he carried her kicking and screaming from the crowded gymnasium.  
Once outside, Chloe seemed to have calmed sufficiently and Clark set her back down on the ground. "What was that?" he asked her.  
"Whitney strung you up in a field," Chloe replied. "And Lana's just a bitch."  
"You mean that you beat up the two most popular people in the school for me?" Clark asked in awe. Chloe nodded and he added, "Thanks." He pulled her into a quick one-armed hug. After a pause he started again. "Now, about what happened out here."  
"Yeah, what was that?" Pete asked, trailing along behind the two of them. "How did you do that stuff?"  
"Can we go back to my house and..talk?" Clark asked.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Mom and Dad, are you guys home?" Clark called as he entered the dark farm house.  
"Clark!" his mother called, coming down the stairs. "Where have you been?" She then noticed Chloe and Pete trailing along behind Clark. "Chloe, Pete, what are you two doing here so late?"  
  
"Mom, something happened. That guy, Jeremy Creek, the scarecrow from the year of the meteor shower, tried to kill everyone at the school for the dance and I had to stop him," he said. At Mrs. Kent's worried expression, he added, "Don't worry, no one was hurt and nobody saw me.except Chloe and Pete."  
"Clark!" his father yelled from behind his mother on the stairs. "Why weren't you more careful?"  
"Dad, I'm sorry, I was careful, it was just that he was going to kill a lot of people if I didn't do something.I had to."  
  
"I understand son. What did you tell Pete and Chloe?" Jonathan asked.  
"Nothing, yet; I wanted to ask your permission first, but I want to tell them everything." Clark said. Upon seeing his parents' shared skeptical expression, he added, "They saved my life tonight."  
"Saved your life, how?" Martha asked. "You didn't mention anything else happening."  
"Well, you guys know the scarecrow tradition? I was this year's victim. If Chloe and Pete hadn't come to get me down, I would probably be dead by now, as would the rest of the student body at the dance because nobody else would have been able to stop Jeremy," Clark explained.  
"Thank you both so much," Martha said to Chloe and Pete. "Sure, what are friends for, anyway?" Chloe shrugged, smiling at Mrs. Kent. She turned to Jonathan and said, "I think we should tell them, Jon. They are Clark's best friends and I know that we can trust them with Clark's secret. It would be nice for him to have someone to talk to about this stuff, besides us I mean."  
  
Jonathan nodded his assent and Clark smiled broadly at him. "Thanks Dad!" Clark yelped. "So, umm.if you guys didn't notice tonight, I can do some pretty amazing things."  
  
"Yeah, Clark, we noticed. You can get hit by a speeding tuck and not get hurt, you can run really fast and you are really strong. That, however, leaves the question of why you couldn't get yourself down from the scarecrow post in the first place. I mean, you practically picked that truck up to get out of there," Chloe stated, going into reporter mode.  
"Well, it had something to do with Lana's necklace. I think that the meteor rocks, like the one in her necklace, make me sick. That's why I couldn't get down." Clark postulated.  
"So, you're a mutant, like Jeremy?" Pete asked.  
"No!" Clark squeaked, half shocked and half appalled at the notion. "I'm not a mutant. I'm..I'm."  
  
"Clark is not from around here," Martha stated ambiguously.  
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.  
"I'm an alien," Clark told them. He paused thoughtfully before adding, "And by alien I mean from another planet, not another country."  
"Whoa," Chloe smirked. A brilliant smile soon replaced the smirk on her face and the worried look Clark had donned, with her simple admission of, "Cool."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Author's Note: In the interest of making Lana a much more interesting character for those of us who find her somewhat dull, I have decided to change her personality just a smidge. Please review 


End file.
